Oculus Rift 1.0 will ship in Q1 2016 with an Xbox One controller

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Earlier today, Oculus held a press conference in advance of next week’s massive E3 gaming event. For the most part, this awkward one-hour stage show was spent discussing the minute details that differentiate the final hardware from the prototypes. But the most interesting news coming out of this event, by far, is the fact that Oculus has decided to partner with Microsoft.

The first segment of the press conference was mostly spent making promises about how comfortable the VR helmet is. We’re told over and over that it’s incredibly lightweight, and we’ll wear it “like a baseball cap.” It’s understandable that comfort and design are huge points of pride, but the presentation was more than a little off-putting. The new Oculus Rift hardware will be available for industry folks to try first-hand next week, so I’m left scratching my head as to why Facebook‘s VR team is giving us such a hard pitch.

In addition, the final hardware will feature a dial for fine-tuning the spacing of the OLED screens, comes with detachable earphones, and offers better compatibility for people with glasses. These are smart usability improvements, but these announcements are better suited for a press release — not as major on-stage selling points.

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